CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

For this rocking drummer with autism, 'drums and the stage are my comfort zone'

Asbury Park Press - 5/22/2021

When Andres Ortiz is on stage playing drums, audience members wouldn't know that he has autism. Behind a drum set he's just another player in a band, rocking out to whatever song the group is playing—ideally, for Ortiz, The Beatles.

Ortiz, 28, of Bridgewater, has been playing for the past 16 years, mostly as a band member born of the music program School of Rock in Chatham and Montclair. Ortiz says that drumming has given him a link to the neurotypical community—those without autism or other developmental and cognitive disabilities.

Ortiz began playing drums as a teenager, taking lessons and playing solo. After a few years, his teacher said that if Ortiz wanted to take his skills to the next level, he would have to play with a band.

“‘Well, how am I ever going to find a group of people to play with?’” Ortiz’s mother, Shawn Ortiz, recalled asking his teacher. “He said, ‘we just have to throw him in with the neurotypical world.’”

More: Autism and friendship: Children's book by two young Millstone men shares their experience

More: Adults with autism: Wall job school plan aims to keep them from falling off 'the cliff'

Ortiz joined the School of Rock, and has been drumming in bands ever since. He recently shared his experience as a musician by writing about it for The TAZ Times.

That is a project of a photojournalism class taught through The Achievement Zone and run through the Arc of Monmouth in Tinton Falls, a non-profit that supports those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In his first piece, published earlier this year, Ortiz posed the question, “Am I a Drummer With Autism Or Am I A Person With Autism Who Plays Drums?"

“When I'm playing the drums, I don't look like a person with autism,” Ortiz answered. “I just want people to see me as a regular musician, not as the person with autism. I will tell them that I happen to have autism and that will basically be it.”

His favorite song to play is "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, and while he loves playing rock and country music the most, he has played a wide range of genres throughout the years at School of Rock shows.

Ortiz said that while playing music has helped him connect with the neurotypical community, autism also makes him a better musician.

“It doesn't bother me to play over and over,” he said. Autism helps him practice songs to perfection, as well as understand details in music others sometimes overlook.

And while one-on-one interactions can be stressful, Ortiz said that he never gets nervous before shows. Unlike some of his neurotypical peers, Ortiz welcomes playing for a crowd. “The drums and the stage are my comfort zones,” he said.

More: Church reverses denial of First Communion for boy with autism; parents say too late

Many famous musicians are believed to have had autism or other developmental disabilities, including Mozart. Ortiz believes that that members of the neurotypical community can do more to support musicians like himself as well as people with autistic more generally.

“I wish they would try to listen more and try to have a better understanding and be more receptive,” Ortiz said. “As a musician, please try to accept us and let us have more opportunities.”

Ortiz wrote a follow up article published on April 16 about the friendships he has made through music.

“There are many different ways to communicate and music is a perfect language for me,” he wrote.

Ortiz was pleased to receive positive feedback.

Michael DeCastro, who teaches the class and works as a peer mentor at Arc of Monmouth, called the class “a blast.”

“When I saw Andres' article I said, ‘you know, this is beyond the scope of our class project here. This is something that other people might want to be interested in too,’” DeCastro said.

Ultimately, Ortiz hopes to tour as a musician and work with other neurotypical children and young adults through music.

“I have great tips for people with autism, or special needs in general,” he said. “If they tell you it's impossible, just keep on trying … Put music in the center stage and disability in a minor chord.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: For this rocking drummer with autism, 'drums and the stage are my comfort zone'

___

(c)2021 the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.)

Visit the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.) at www.app.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.